POLLING for the Johor election has closed and vote counting is underway for the state’s 56 constituencies.

There are 2.59 million voters registered, including 18-year-olds and new voters under the automatic voter registration system, but turnout in this election is expected to be low owing to disillusionment and fears of Covid-19.

At 4pm, two hours before the close of polling, just 50% of voters had cast their ballots, according to the Election Commission.

The main fight for votes will be between the Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalitions.

There are also newer parties in the field, such Pejuang, Muda, Warisan Sabah, Parti Bangsa Malaysia, Parti Sosialis Malaysia, Putra, plus several independent candidates.

The Malaysian Insight will post updates of the vote count from a mix of unofficial sources – figures released by the political parties – and official results released by the EC.

11.50pm: The EC has counted votes in 50 out of Johor’s 56 seats. Of the 50 so far, BN has won 37, giving it a supermajority in the state assembly.

Of the remaining tally so far, PH has 10 and PN 3 seats.

Six more seats have yet to be counted. Final updates can be obtained from the EC’s website on the Johor polls here.

11.20pm: In a televised press conference, Election Commission (EC) chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh declared BN the winner in the Johor elections.

He said BN has so far obtained 29 out of 56 seats, giving it a simple majority and mandate to form the state government.

The EC has also counted five seats for PH and three for PN, so far, as count continues.

10.40pm: The EC has called three seats for PH-DAP: Perling, Bentayan and Skudai.

Meanwhile, DAP is reportedly leading in eight other seats of the 14 it contested: Tangkak, Mengkibol, Penggaram, Stulang, Johor Jaya, Pekan Nanas, Senai and Jementah.

However, it is trailing in Bekok and Paloh, and has lost Yong Peng to MCA.

The latest from the EC is that it has also called 18 seats for BN, one for PN and one for PKR.

10.20pm: PN has won the Endau seat, according to the Election Commission. The coalition polled a 3,041 majority over its closest rival, BN, in a five-horse race.

However, BN has taken seven seats, according to official results: Gambir, Bukit Naning, Benut, Kukup, Yong Peng, Johor Lama and Tenang.

In Tenang, BN’s Haslinda Salleh beat Muda’s Lim Wei Jiet by 1,736 votes.

Meanwhile, PH has won the Bentayan seat.

10.10pm: Puteri Wangsa is looking like the only seat Muda will win in these elections, as candidate Amira Aisya is currently on 17,929 votes, with the BN candidate taking 13,944 ballots.

However, Muda is trailing behind BN in Larkin, Machap and Parit Raja.

In Larkin, BN has 9,869 votes, PN has 5,556, PKR has 3,786, Muda has 2,982 and Pejuang 437.

In Machap, BN obtained 9,804 votes, PN 3,809, Muda 3,459 and Pejuang 451.

In Parit Raja, BN currently has 10,637 votes, PN 6,414, Muda 3,893 and Pejuang 515.

Meanwhile in Bukit Kepong, PN has the lead with 9,311 votes over Muda’s 2,771.

9.55pm: The Election Commission has confirmed results for Yong Peng and Johor Lama, both of which BN has won.

In Yong Peng, BN has a winning margin of 2,741 votes over PH, its closest rival.

In Johor Lama, BN has won by a majority of 6,039 over closest rival PN.

Unofficially, PN is leading in only three seats so far: Bukit Kepong, Maharani, dan Endau.

Meanwhile, PH has claimed Perling, where Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong has 18,600 votes currently over BN’s 15,283 votes.

PH-DAP is far ahead in Skudai, where first time candidate Marina Ibrahim has 17,634 votes over BN rival Lim Soon Hai’s 8,189.

9.45pm: PKR’s Maszlee Malik has lost his bid for the Layang-Layang seat, according to unofficial results tabulated by the BN camp.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan announced at BN state headquarters that the coalition’s candidate for the constituency, Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim, has won with a 3,016 majority.

Maszlee, who is also Simpang Renggam MP, won 4,756 votes to Abd Mutalip’s 7,772.

Meanwhile, PN won 1,297 votes and Pejuang 174 votes.

The Layang-Layang seat is one of two in Simpang Renggam.

9.18pm: Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad looks set to retain his Benut seat, having garnered 10,508 votes, more than double his closest rival. PN has 4,828 votes, PKR has 1,147 votes and Pejuang just 132 votes.

There only two polling streams of 54 streams left to be counted in this constituency.

Meanwhile, Umno Youth Chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said in a tweet that BN is leading in 44 out of 56 state seats.

At least 29 seats are required for a simple majority, while BN has said it is targeting a supermajority of 37 seats.

9.10pm: Former education minister Maszlee Malik, one of the big names contesting under the PKR banner is currently trailing BN’s Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim in the Layang-Layang seat. 

Maszlee, touted as a possible candidate for the Menteri Besar post if PKR wins, has 2,302 votes while Abd Mutalip has 3,170 votes.

Unofficially, PKR are trailing in most of the 20 seats it has contested. 

8.55pm: PH is trailing BN in Semerah and Paloh, which the opposition coalition won in 2018.

In Semerah, BN’s candidate currently has 7,374 votes, PN has 4,860 and PH-PKR has 4,171 votes. The other contestants here are Pejuang, which has 229 and Putra, which has 154 votes so far.

PKR in Semerah is using its own logo, in line with the party’s decision to do so in all the Johor seats it is contesting, while DAP and Amanah have continued using the PH logo.

In Paloh, the seat of DAP Johor vice-chairman Sheikh Omar Ali, the incumbent is trailing with 2,098 votes to BN’s 3,732. The PN candidate here has 627 votes and Pejuang, 72 votes.

8.45pm: Muda’s R. Sangaran is also trailing behind BN and PN in Machap. BN’s Onn Hafiz Ghazi is leading with 380 votes. 

In Maharani, where BN had an early lead, PN is taking over with 2,297 votes for its PAS candidate, over PH’s 2,075 votes, and BN’s 1,872 votes.

The independent candidate in Maharani, Lim Kin Hoo, has 209 votes and is doing better than Pejuang’s 102 and Parti Bangsa Malaysia’s 57 votes.

8.25pm: Muda is trailing in three seats. In Puteri Wangsa, the youth-based party’s secretary-general Amira Aisya has 5,484 votes to Johor MCA Tebrau chief Ng Yew Aik’s 6,189 votes.

However, Amira said in a tweet that Muda won the postal votes for the constituency.

Muda also trails in Bukit Kepong (1,334 votes), placing it third after PN’s 3,067 votes and BN’s 2,635 votes. Pejuang is last here with 74 votes.

In Parit Raja, Muda’s 1,785 votes so far lags behind the BN incumbent, who has garnered 3,833 votes. PN is in second with 2,013 votes and Pejuang brings up the rear with 181 votes.

8.15pm: PH-DAP candidates Liew Chin Tong, Marina Ibrahim and Chew Chong Sin are leading in Perling, Skudai and Mengkibol.

Liew has 11,000 votes to his closest rival from BN, who has 7,098 votes.

Marina, a first-time candidate has 3,344 votes to BN’s 1,546.

Chew in Mengkibol also 7,259 votes to BN’s 2,570.

7.52pm: In Gambir, which was PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin’s seat, his nominated successor (114 votes) is trailing behind his BN rival (243 votes).

PKR splits the two Malay dominated coalitions with 138 votes, while Pejuang has just 11 votes so far.

BN’s MCA candidate is also doing well in Yong Peng, with 1,265 to PH’s 517 and PN’s 139 votes.

BN is currently leading in 40 out of the state’s 56 seats.

Meanwhile, PH has a huge lead in Bentayan, a Chinese-majority and a DAP seat, with 2,406 votes to BN’s 680 and PN’s 477.

In Simpang Jeram, Salahuddin Ayub (Amanah-PH) is has 638 votes to PN’ 665 and BN’s 588. Pejuang is failing to make a dent here, with only 23 votes so far.

7.43pm: In Tenang, Muda candidate Lim Wei Jiet has a slight lead with 138 votes over the BN candidate Haslinda Salleh, who has 134 votes.

Muda is also leading in Bukit Kepong. Candidate Afiqah Zulkifli nudging ahead (241 votes) of BN rival Ismail Mohamed (232 votes).

In Larkin, where Muda and PKR clash, Muda so far has 10 votes to PKR’s 15, while PN has streaked ahead with 118 votes.

7.25pm: PH’s Liew Chin Tong has surged ahead in Perling now, with 2,996 votes.

PH is also leading in Penggaram with 1,752 votes, and Mengkibol 2,192, and Johor Jaya 2,115.

In all these seats, BN is second after PH.

7.16pm: Barisan Nasional said its candidates are leading in 31 out of 56 seats: Buloh Kasap, Kemelah, Tenang, Bekok, Tangkak, Serom, Bukit Naning, Maharani, Sungai Balang, Seri Medan, Yong Peng, Senggarang, Mahkota, Paloh, Kahang, Endau, Tenggaroh, Penawar, Tanjung Surat, Tiram, Puteri Wangsa, Johor Jaya, Skudai, Kota Iskandar, Bukit Permai, Bukit Batu, Senai, Benut, Pulai Sebatang, Pekan Nenas and Kukup.

7.15pm: PH’s Liew Chin Tong is leading in Perling, with 747 votes. Trailing behind the Johor DAP chief is PN with 391 and BN with 308.

So far, ballots from only seven out of the seat’s 172 polling streams have been counted.

7.07pm: At BN state headquarters, Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan announces that BN has won votes cast in “all army camps”.

More than 22,000 members of the security forces and their spouses cast their ballots on Tuesday.

6.53pm: BN is leading in a few seats at the early count: Maharani with 618 votes, Bukit Pasir 191, and Tangkak 171.

The coalition is also leading strongly in Yong Peng, where its MCA candidate MCA has collected 385 votes so far, and in Bukit Naning with 510 votes.

In Bukit Naning, BN’s closest rival is PN, which currently has 319 votes. – March 12, 2022.